The Tiverton Town Council has approved a preliminary spending plan that, pending final approval, will result in a property tax rate of $14.97 for FY 2023-24, versus $14.63 currently — a 34-cent increase.

This means a resident whose home is valued at $400,000 would see an increase of approximately $136 in next year’s property taxes, or 2.3 percent. 

A final council vote is expected after community members weigh in on the proposed budget at a public hearing scheduled for Monday, June 5.

The preliminary numbers reflect combined municipal and school department spending of  $57.7 million, an increase of $1.9 million, or 3.3 percent, over the current year’s budget.   

The municipal side, including capital expenditures, totals $23.4 million, an increase of 5.1 percent. The school appropriation, which includes state aid, is $34.3 million, an increase of 2.2 percent.

Original school proposal rejected

Tensions between town and school officials have surfaced during meetings in recent weeks as town council members have repeatedly questioned the rationale behind the school department’s spending plan and have strongly recommended the numbers be whittled down.

In the current fiscal year, the town appropriated $26.5 million to the schools. The school committee requested an increase of $1.1 million (four percent) for the coming year. If approved, this increase, combined with $6.9 million in state aid, would have brought the total school appropriation to $34.5 million.

During joint budget meetings, councilors rejected the four percent increase and after lengthy deliberations, finally settling this week on three percent. As a result, the schools are getting approximately $265,000 less than anticipated. School officials say this will hurt, since they said their budget as originally presented reflected no-frills, level-service funding that allowed for no new programs or additional hiring.

At a recent meeting with the council, school committee chairman Jerry Larkin referenced factors that he said justified the original amount requested. In the 2021-22 fiscal year, the school department received no increase in appropriations, despite contractual increases amounting to 3.5 percent of the entire payroll. As a result, he said it was necessary at the time to eliminate teacher positions and to cut services “to the bare bones.”   

“That continues to echo through every budget cycle. So flat funding with contractual increases built a structural deficit.”

Additionally, the schools have experienced significant increases in special education expenses that began in 2019.  The third factor, he said, relates to substantially higher costs for transportation and energy.

He added that the school committee’s budget review process is rigorous and discussions on how to solve the structural deficit problem are ongoing.

“We have looked at every account. We have cut everything we possibly can ... What it comes down to is closing that structural deficit without cutting more personnel.”

Larkin also noted that the schools will receive lower state aid in the coming year.

The councilors and Tiverton Town Administrator Chris Cotta have responded with skepticism to the references to a structural deficit, noting that the school department’s budget summary included a combined fund balance of $1.1 million and Medicaid funds of approximately $700,000 at the end of June 2022.

“How can you have a structural deficit if you keep having money left over at the end of every year?” asked council president Denise deMedeiros.  “Your structural deficit just bothers me because at the end of the budget year, you put money in the bank.”

New budget rules and timelines

Last November, Tiverton voters approved a ballot question that significantly changed the way in which annual budgets are approved and eliminated the need for an annual Financial Town Referendum (FTR) as long as the only budget to be considered is the one put forth by the town council.

Under the new guidelines, the council may formally adopt the final “unified budget” ordinance immediately after gathering feedback from the public at the upcoming public hearing on June 5. If the council determines budget revisions are needed, it has until June 30 to take final action. Once formally approved, the budget must be posted on the town’s website within two business days. 

At that point, the budget process will be complete — unless a Tiverton voter wants to propose an alternative budget. In that case, within 10 business days of final adoption of the unified budget by the council, an elector may circulate a petition requesting a budget referendum on the alternative budget proposal. This will start the clock for scheduling the FTR.